Virtual FORUM 2020 Recap: Contrast in Print Technologies – Preprint vs. Postprint

The session began with Geoff Roznak, retired after 36 years in the corrugated industry, who spoke about what brand owners want and how to ensure their expectations are met at press. He explained that customer expectations break down into three different groups: knowing what they want and documenting it, thinking they know what they want but not providing documentation, and being unsure of what they want. Roznak followed by discussing that brand owners want consistency, logo and brand color accuracy, open communication, written/defined capabilities and well-informed internal contacts. Corrugated printers can find success by selling to capability, as one example. “The graphic artist should be more of an expert than the sales guys are,” he said.

David Straten of Advance Packaging spoke next, and focused his presentation on why direct print flexo on corrugated is so attractive today. He talked about developments that have contributed to changes in direct print flexo, including capabilities, quality improvement, what’s attracting brand owners and advances in presses. One example he cited is print register, which in the past was limited but today is far more capable, due to machine manufacturers who have “stepped up.” The number of colors available has also increased, allowing for more print stations on a press and a wider color gamut. “From end to end, the corrugated press is not what it used to be,” Straten noted.

The last speaker was Dan Lachapell of Menasha Preprint, who discussed preprint, what preprint is and how to convert to preprint. He compared preprinted linerboard with other technologies, explaining that preprint results in more cost savings. He noted his company has shipped preprinted linerboard all over the continent. Preprinted linerboard rolls are dense and full truckloads commonly max out weight at between 40,000 pounds and 45,000 pounds, even though the actual spaced consumed is less than half of a trailer, allowing for multiple rolls to be printed and distributed across multiple converting operations for consistency and scale. Lachapell ended his presentation by answering the question, “What can we do better?” and explaining that high linescreen doesn’t mean high quality. “You can see a high linescreen go downhill quick if you don’t have great registration,” he said.